Author: Minal Bopaiah - Page 50 - Subscription Insider

Are Subscription Music Services Better for Indie Labels Than For Mainstream Ones?

News, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscription Apps / Minal Bopaiah

I recently wrote about how radio aggregator apps are competing with subscription music services like Spotify and Pandora. On the same day, Robert Andrews of paidContent wrote about Drip.fm, a subscription service that lets listeners subscribe to independent labels, instead of artists or genres. The service seems to particularly popular among indie music fans, even though the labels seem to release “just a few, hand-picked tracks each month.” Listeners can choose to subscribe to more than…

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How to Save Journalism – Great Ideas While Drinking

News, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscription Apps / Minal Bopaiah

Yesterday evening I was lucky enough to attend Neiman Journalism Lab’s Happy Hour here in Boston. (Is there anything better than drinks and conversation with smart journos? I think not.) I got to talk to a number of incoming Neiman fellows, who were bright and upbeat until I mentioned I worked for a publication that was about how to make money from paid content. The momentary despair that swept over some people’s faces made me realize…

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Subscription Site Trulia Files to Become Publicly Traded Company

Business Strategy, FInance, News / Minal Bopaiah

The real estate search and subscription site Trulia confidentially filed to go public last month, according to DealBook, The New York Times micro-site, which reported on the now-public information last Friday. (According to new SEC rules, companies with annual gross revenue of less than $1 billion can file registration statements that do not have to be disclosed until 21 days before “the company’s roadshow to sell the new shares.”) Trulia has 21,544 paying subscribers as of…

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Radio Aggregator Apps Compete With Music Subscription Services

FInance, News, Subscription Apps / Minal Bopaiah

Despite the boom in music subscription services, from Spotify to Pandora, terrestrial radio and aggregator apps seems to be the most popular ways for audiences to discover new music. Nielsen’s “Music 360” study surveyed 3,000 consumers and found that 48% of listeners use radio as their first option to find new music, ahead of friends and relatives (10%). In terms of digital listening, mobile apps are key, with 54% of consumers saying they have a music…

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Social Media Guidlines for/from Subscription and Paid Content Sites

News, Technology / Minal Bopaiah

Social media is often considered the “frenemy” of subscription and membership sites — it can increase brand awareness and site traffic, but it can also corrupt your revenue model if too much premium content leaks out. In this week’s Webinar on Subscription Site Insider, Social Media Maven Rachel Yeomans helped Insider members see how they can harness the power of social media platforms without giving away their valuable content. Critical to this mission, however, is having…

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The Guardian Gets 2.1% Conversion on iPad Trials: What’s Working and What’s Not

News, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscription Apps, Technology / Minal Bopaiah

This article was updated with new information from Robert Andrews and the iTunes developer page at 3pm EST. The Guardian recently reported it has 17,000 paying iPad subscribers. Given that there have been 804,000 downloads of The Guardian’s iPad app, paidContent estimates a conversion rate of 2.1%. However, a spokesperson from The Guardian was quick to dispute that number, telling paidContent that number varies by month. Regardless, it’s worth examining what The Guardian is doing right and…

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Scripps Newspaper Division Sees Drop in Digital Revenues in Q2

FInance, News, Subscription Apps / Minal Bopaiah

E.W. Scripps Co.announced last week that while its consolidated revenues increased by 19% from $183 million in the second quarter of 2011 to $217 million, the company’s newspaper division has seen a 4.7% decline in revenue from a year ago to $97 million. The decline was seen on both the print and digital side. In print, the advertising decline (7.2%) outstripped circulation decline (3.7%), which is both disconcerting and heartening (i.e., people are not fleeing print…

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Facebook Opens Up Subscription Billing, But Paid Content Sites Should Think Twice Before Joining

News, Payment Processing / Minal Bopaiah

Last week, Facebook announced that its subscription billing app is now available to all developers. (Kixeye, Disney’s Playdom and Zynga have been testing the app since June.) While gaming sites and paid content sites using social readers may be excited about this news, the app may not actually be to their fiscal advantage. For one, Facebook is taking a 30% cut of all subscription fees. That’s enormously high for payment processing services. While there was no formal…

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Google Wallet Likely to Hurt Subscription Retention, Skype Avoids Pre-Paid Problems With Its Own Cards

News, Payment Processing, Subscriber Acquisition / Minal Bopaiah

Google seemed to have jumped the gun this week when it announced Google Wallet supports all major credit and debit cards. American Express was quick to announce there was no formal deal, according to CardNotPresent.com. But even with a formal deal, subscription sites should be hesitant to use the new cloud-based service. Amex’s biggest concern is the fact that purchases show up on a cardholder’s statement as “Google” instead of with normal merchant-related information. That means…

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Add Telemarketing Sales Efforts To Free Trial With No Credit Card

News, Subscriber Acquisition / Minal Bopaiah

Normally, it’s against best practices to offer a free trial without requiring a credit card number at sign-up. But this week’s Case Study on our sister site Subscription Site Insider has the one exception to that rule. SafetySmart.com has seen success with its 2-week trial offers despite not taking a credit card. That’s because the B2B site has a strong in-house sales team that aggressively pursues every prospect who signs up for a free trial. In…

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Insight to drive subscription growth

Minal Bopaiah